The Political Ecology of Sustainable Community Development in Sierra Leone Submitted By
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The Political Ecology of Sustainable Community Development in Sierra Leone Submitted by: Ahmed Ojullah Bangura to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography in February 2013 This thesis is available for library use on the understanding that it is a copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. i Declaration I confirm that: This thesis represents my own work. The contributions of my Supervisors and others to the research and to the thesis were consistent with normal supervisory practices. All sources used are denoted in the references section. Any mistakes of facts, interpretation and presentation are mine. Ahmed Ojullah Bangura Date ii ABSTRACT. Natural resources are in abundance but have not benefited resource- based communities. The mining industry, especially in developing countries, has fallen short of working towards sustainable community practices. Different governance initiatives adopted by governments to make the communities beneficiaries of these resources are yet to bring sustainable results. Government is seen as the sole actor on policymaking and its implementation, and the production and delivery of goods and services. Acknowledgement is not given to the roles and responsibilities of the resource-based communities to work as co-partners towards sustainable community development. Hence, this thesis argues that government policies should move away from seeing resource communities as recipients and representatives in policymaking towards co-partnership. As such, this thesis aims to explore the dynamics between resource use and achieving sustainable community development by exploring the barriers and potential for sustainable community development in diamond mining communities in Kono, Eastern Sierra Leone. To do this, the thesis uses data from a wide rage of indebt semi-structured interviews, documents and focus group discussions from four case studies representing four chiefdoms to point out a shift from the governance approach of institutionalisation to adaptive governance approach that will make the resource communities self-determined and sustainable. The thesis deals with three objectives. First, a focus is put on the relationship between resource exploitation and community governance in mining communities through an analysis of key actors and their roles at a range of scales. Second, in an attempt to find out the scope of sustainability in resource-based communities, attention is given to the ways mining communities utilise their assets and undertake practices that contribute towards sustainable community development. Third, in finding answers from issues arising in these communities and the prospect for effective mining policies, the thesis attempts to identify both the structural and community-based barriers to promoting sustainable community development in mining communities and then make policy recommendations for community development in such communities. Key Words: Resource Exploitation; Community Development, Community Governance, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Community Development iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................8 1.1 Introduction………………………………………………………...……………..8 1.2 Background and Context: Statement of the Problem…………………………….16 1.3 Governance (good or bad)………………………………………………………..18 1.4 Community Development………………………………………………………..20 1.5 Sustainable Development…………………………………………...……………23 1.6 Theoretical Approach…………………………………………………………….23 1.7 Contribution to Existing Literature……………………………………...……….27 Aim and Objectives…………………………………………………………..29 1.8 Methodology………………………..……………………………………………30 1.9 Organisation of Work…………………………………………………………….36 CHAPTER 2 ASSESSING THE SUSTAINABILITY IN POLITICAL ECOLOGY………………………………………………………………………….38 2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………38 2.2 Understanding Political Ecology and Sustainable Development………………...39 Political Ecology……………………………………………………………..39 Sustainable Development: The Brundtland Report………………………….40 Theoretical Pluralism: Political Ecology and Sustainable Development……41 2.3 Conceptual Issues: Paradigm shift in Political Ecology…………………………44 Political Ecology: Is it about people or places?...............................................45 Political Ecology: Is it political or ecological?................................................46 2.4 Conceptual Approaches of Political Ecology…………………………………….46 Geographical Approach……………………………………………………...48 Stakeholders’ Approach……………………………………………………...48 Socio-Economic Approach…………………………………………………..50 2.5 Community Governance and Sustainability Practice…………………………….51 Government Perspective……………………………………………………...51 Social Capital and Community Capital………………………………………52 The Resource Abundance and Resource Curse………………………………54 2.6 Sustainable Community Development…………………………………………...56 Concept of Community……………………………………………………....56 iv Community Development and Sustainable Community Development……..59 2.7 Strong and Weak Sustainability…………………………………………………62 Community Assets in Perspective…………………………………………...64 Natural Capital……………………………………………………………….65 Human Capital……………………………………………………………….66 Economic Capital…………………………………………………………….66 Physical Capital………………………………………………………………66 Social Capital………………………………………………………………...67 Cultural Capital………………………………………………………………67 Sustainable Community Challenges………………………………………….67 2.8 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..69 CHAPTER 3 POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SIERRA LEONE’s DIAMOND MINING INDUSTRY................................................................................................71 3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………71 3.2 Political History of Sierra Leone…………………………………………………72 3.3 Political Economy of Sierra Leone………………………………........................75 3.4 Sierra Leone’s Diamond History…………………………………………………82 3.5 Analysis of Actors in the Diamond Industry……………………………………..90 Non-state Actors in Sierra Leone’s Diamond Resources…………………….92 Internal State Actors………………………………………………………….92 The RUF as Diamond Agents………………………………………………..92 Sierra Leone Armed Forces Agents………………………………...………..93 Civil Militia Agents………………………………………………………….94 Lebanese……………………………………………………………………...94 External State Actors…………………………………………………………98 Mercenary Agents………………………...………………………………...100 ECOMOG……………………………………….…………………….……101 3.6 Governance Initiatives………………………………………………………….102 Kimberley Process Certification Scheme……………………………….….102 Diamond Area Community Development Fund……………………………104 3.7 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………106 v CHAPTER 4 METHODOLOGY………………………………………………...107 4.1 Introduction………………………………….…………….................................107 4.2 Methodology……………………………………………………………………108 Limitations………………………………………………………………….110 4.3 Research Strategy and Approach……………………………………………….111 Case Study Approach……………………………………………………….111 Types of Case Study………………...………………………………………113 Weaknesses and Strengths of Using a Case Study Approach………………114 Induction…………………………………………………………………….114 4.4 Research Design: Strategy and Approach………………………………………115 Cases Studied in Research……………...…………………………………..116 4.5 Conducting the Research: Preparation of the Fieldwork/Data Collection Procedure……………………………………………………………………………118 4.6 Case Study Timetable and Data Collection Procedures………………………..123 Data Collection Techniques and Processes…………………………………124 Documentary Analysis……………………………………………………...124 Key Informant Interviews…………………………………………………..125 Focus Groups……………………………………………….……………….126 4.7 Data Analysis and Interpretation………………………………………………..127 Categorising the Data……………………………………………………….129 Theory and Narrative Building……………………………………………..129 4.8 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………130 CHAPTER 5 RESOURCE EXPLOITATION: AN OVERTURE OF RESOURCE CURSE……………………………………………………………...131 5.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………......131 5.2 Resource Exploitation…………………………………………………………..132 Resource Exploitation Activities…………………….………….…….…….133 Basics of Resource Exploitation…………….……………….……………..141 Finance as a Tool of Exploitation………………………….…………….....141 Marketing and Pricing as a Tool of Exploitation……………………….…..143 5.3 Evidence of Resource Exploitation……………….………………….…………146 Environmental Impact of Diamond Mining in Kono District………………147 Accommodation…………………………………………….……………....150 vi No Electricity in the District………………….…………….………………152 Health and Sanitation………………………………….…………………...152 5.4 Actors of Resource Exploitation…………………………………………….....154 Miners……………………………………………………………………...155 ‘Gardo’……………………………………………………………………..157 ‘Warker fast’ (Walk fast miners)…………………………………………...158 West African Actors………………………………………………………...158 5.5 Resource Exploitation and Community Governance…………………………...161 Access to Resources……………………………………………..……….....162 5.6 Conclusion…………………………………...…………………………….……163 CHAPTER 6 APPROACHES TOWARD SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………………………….165 6.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………….…….165 6.2 Community Assets in Perspective………………………………………………166 6.3 Community Assets and Activities of Actors………………………………........168 Natural Capital………………………………………………………...…....169 Human Capital……………………………………………………………...174 Economic Capital………………………………………………………..….177 Physical Capital…………….………………………………………………179 Social Capital……………………………………………………………….181 Cultural Capital…………...………………………………………………...183 6.4 Sustainability Approach: Strong and Weak Sustainability……………………..185 6.5 Sustainable Community Development and Governance ……………...……….187